In a study examining whether serum phosphorus levels included mortality in the general population, Kyung Don Yoo, MD, and collaborators at Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea, looked at 89,193 who had received a routine check-up from 1995 to 2009 after excluding those with potential CKD. They categorized subjects according to quartile of phosphate level.

Among men, those in the highest phosphorus quartile were younger, had higher serum albumin levels, and had a high proportion of current smokers than those in lower quartiles. Among women, those in the highest quartile were older and had a greater prevalence of diabetes than those in lower quartiles.

In multivariate analysis, men in the highest quartile had a significant 27% increased risk of all-cause mortality compared with those in the lowest quartile, after adjusting for age, diabetes, hypertension, body mass index, and other potential confounders. The study revealed no association between phosphorus levels and all-cause mortality in women.